Work Zone Injuries Lawyer in Raleigh, NC

What Are Work Zone Accidents?

Work zones are designated areas of construction, maintenance, or utility work on a road, street, or highway. A work-zone accident is one in which the first harmful event occurs within the boundaries of a work zone or on an approach to or exit from a work zone, resulting from an activity, behavior, or control related to the movement of motor vehicles through the work zone or construction, maintenance or utility work within the work zone.

Examples of work zone accidents include:

• A driver on the roadway loses control within a work zone due to a shift or reduction in the travel lanes and crashes into an earth-mover in the work zone.
• A van in an open travel lane strikes a highway worker in the work zone.
• A highway-construction vehicle working on the edge of the roadway is struck by a motor vehicle traveling through a construction zone.
• A rear-end-collision accident occurs before the signs or markings indicating a work zone due to vehicles slowing or stopped on the roadway because of the work-zone activity.
• A construction worker on the job within the designated work zone is injured in a fall, by falling material, by being caught between a vehicle and a stationary object, by a hot tar spill or a fire that breaks out on a piece of machinery, by electrical shock from malfunctioning equipment, etc.

Has Your Work Zone Accident Workers’ Comp Claim Been Denied?

It is not uncommon for a valid workers’ compensation claim to be denied and/or challenged by the employer or the employer’s insurer. However, there is an appeals process and with perseverance, knowledge of the law, and an understanding of the type of evidence needed to support a claim, a denial can be reversed or an objection overcome.

A workers’ compensation attorney from Younce, Vtipil, Baznik & Banks can help if you have received a notice of denial of your claim. We can review the reasons your claim was turned down and begin obtaining evidence required to successfully appeal the denial claim. In some cases, there is a technical problem or omission in your claim that we can correct. In other cases, we need to fight your employer or their insurer on your behalf.

Typical objections we can work to mitigate include but are not limited to:

• Employment status. Increasingly, companies save money by treating workers as independent contractors when legally they meet all criteria of an employee. We can work to show that conditions of your employment meet the legal definition of an employee under North Carolina law.
• Scope of employment. An employer or insurer may claim you were not on the job or not performing assigned job duties when the accident occurred. We will work to gather evidence that establishes they your accident was properly job-related.
• Lack of causation. The claims adjustor may not recognize how your injury or medical condition is related to the worksite accident. We can help you obtain a second medical opinion and submit stronger evidence of your qualifications for benefits.

Denied claims usually involve legal or medical issues, or both, and are litigated first through mediation and, if not settled, through an administrative hearing before an Industrial Commission judge. In some cases, an appeal goes before the full Industrial Commission and into the N.C. Appellate Court System.